


Flustered

by LivTC



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-30
Updated: 2013-12-04
Packaged: 2017-11-23 00:42:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/616158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LivTC/pseuds/LivTC
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Karkat Vantas hates three things, especially Dave Strider, who is seemingly unaware of the angry teenager's existence. Unfortunately, Karkat is unprepared when he sees Strider in the hallways, and in an attempt to /not/ see him, his books get sent flying. T for language.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Be Karkat Vantas**  
You were gonna hit something. If it weren't for the pile of books in your hands, you totally would've been hitting something.  
You hated three things at the moment:  
1.) School. Who the hell thought cramming a bunch of teenagers into one place was a good idea? You understood the importance of education; hell, you liked learning, but this was ridiculous. Everyone around you was some combination of hungry, tired, and horny, and they grated on your nerves as if you were the cheese and the student body was the sharp, metal object.  
The horny ones were the worst. Not that they were hitting on you, or anything, but still, a person can only witness so many sloppy makeouts before throwing up. Or worse: getting turned on, too.  
 **Karkat: Transition**  
2.) You. That thing you wanted to hit if not for your books? It was you. You were an imbecile of the lowest intelligence, an idiot of the highest degree. What was wrong with you? You were turning into one of those dumb jocks from John's terribly cliche movies, sans all the hot chicks hanging around.  
Not that you were into chicks. Another reason to hate yourself, actually. You just had to be gay, huh? You were playing the high school game on the highest difficulty. Life was hard as a gay teenager, and no one understood.  
You were just lucky no one had found out yet. But you knew, someday, someone was bound to notice you staring in the locker rooms. Not that you stared much. Just at one annoyingly choice ass.  
 **== > **  
3.) Dave Strider, owner of said choice ass. You'd never wanted to hit and then molest someone as much as you wanted to hit and then molest Strider. Every time you saw him, you had to resist the urge to jump on him like a spider monkey, alternating between punching and kissing him. You wanted to knock those stupid shade off his face. What the hell was he hiding under there? How could you be so attracted to a kid you hadn't even fully seen?  
It didn't matter much, anyway. Strider had no idea who you were. You'd shared at least one class with him every semester since six grade. Five years, and you still had to re-introduce yourself every fucking time there was a group project. Five years of growling out your name for him, and he still asked. You hated when he asked. You always had to feign disgust to cover up for how hurt you were.  
Uh.  
You mean --  
Da-- Strider had never hurt your feelings. Of course not.  
Damn it.  
 **Be Dave Strider**  
You loved life. Honestly, it could not be any better right now. You were at school, so you weren't surrounded by any of Bro's fucking smuppets, and you'd just come out to your best friend. John took it pretty well for a straight guy who thought he was being hit on, though he never was able to finish that math problem.  
You wondered briefly if there were any other gay kids in the school. There was Rose and her girlfriend of course, but as chicks, they didn't count. That Eridan kid was pretty flamboyant, though he wasn't really your type. He was a bit of a genocidal prick, and you were sure he crossdressed. You didn't have a problem with it, but you weren't into mini-skirts, regardless of whether or not the person wearing them had a dick. Either way, Eridan seemed to have a thing for some computer nerd.  
That was the one problem for you with being gay: no one else was. So much candy, all of it uneatable. You would take all the judgement in the world if it meant you could have more options for desert.  
There was one guy in particular you wished were an option. He didn't come off to you as gay, but of course, you weren't the standard definition, either. Man, he was cute. Especially when he was angry, and Jesus, did it piss him off when you "forgot" his name.  
Oh, look!  
 **Be Karkat**  
Speak of the devil.  
Stop staring, man. You think he's looking back, but it's hard to tell with those shades, so just look down. Resist temptation. You can do it.  
 **Karkat: Fucking look down, already.**  
You look down, which turns out to be a bad idea. You walk straight into some familiar brunette chick, sending your books flying. As the fuckass walks off, yelling at you to watch where you're going, you drop to your knees in an attempt to quickly gather your shit back up.  
You hope Strider didn't see that.  
 **Be Dave**  
 **Dave: See that**  
Oh, you saw that.  
Half of you wants to go tell Vriska off for being a dumb ass, but the rest of you wants to go help.  
 **Dave: Go help**  
You don't need to be told twice. You quickly walk the ten feet over and drop down to the floor. You start grabbing random papers and shoving them random places, caring more about time than accuracy.  
You can feel the kid next to you tense up.  
A bit nervously, you say, "Hi, Karkat."  
He completely freezes at this, which pisses you off a bit. He's not looking at you, and his hair is covering his face. To fix this problem, you reach over and put two fingers under his jaw. You make him look at you, and holy shit --  
 **Be Karkat**  
Holy shit.  
Holy shit.  
HOLY SHIT.  
Strider knows your name.  
Dave fucking Strider knows your name, is touching you, and is actually smiling, and Jesus Christ, that bastard, why is he not closer to you.  
 **Be Dave**  
\-- he's even cuter when he's flustered.


	2. Shopping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this story got 5 chapters on FF, so I figured, why not here, too?

**Be Karkat Vantas**

I'd been dating Dave Strider for about two weeks, though we hadn't really been on a proper date. We'd been out plenty of times, yeah, but never to the movies or to dinner like in my rom-coms. I was fucking pissed about this. Everything Dave fucking Strider did still made me want to introduce his face to a sledgehammer, and yet, there we were, on our fifth "outing."

"Target, Strider?" I growled as he turned off the engine, crossing my arms.

He chuckled. I'd gotten used to that sound. After all, Dave seemed to find me hilarious, and chuckled at almost everything I did. Especially when I was pissed off, or at a loss for words.

"Problem, Vantas?" he returned, smirk apparent in his voice. I could't see it, though; I refused to look at him, instead settling for looking at the giant red letters on the side of the brick building.

I responded, "Oh no, of course not. I fucking love shopping for mundane items with you like a -"

"Old married couple?" he interrupted.

I whipped my head around to glare at him, but I knew I was blushing. It didn't help that he was smiling, either. Strider had attractive, kissable lips, which was aggravating because I hadn't kissed him yet. I refused to have my first kiss in school, or in the super market, or in his dumb truck. I wouldn't do it.

I'd actually never kissed anyone, and I knew he had and that he was probably awesome at it and what if I was a bad kisser and what if he broke up with me because of it and Jesus Christ my chest hurt.

"No," I finally snapped back. "Shut up."

He was still smirking when he got out of the car. I got out, too, wondering why I was putting myself through this torture when Dave suddenly wrapped his calloused hand around my small one.

"You have girl hands," he noted, incredibly pleased. "Really soft."

I tried to pull away, frustrated, but he wouldn't let me.

"Why the hell is that a good thing?" I growled, insecurity on the tip of my tongue. "You're gay aren't you? Don't you like  _men_?"

He started laughing like a retarded hyena.

Strider responded, "Liking dick doesn't mean I can't like feminine features, Karkitty."

I punched him in the arm with my free hand as we reach the automatic doors. If I ever stopped blushing from before, my cheeks were red again from his bluntness.

The smell of the over-buttered popcorn that they for some reason sell at Target hit my nose as Dave grabbed a cart.

We never used a cart. As unemployed high school students, we never had enough money to actually  _fill_  a cart. I narrowed my eyes at my boyfriend, incredibly suspicious.

He just smirked.

Grabbing my hand again, he started rolling the annoyingly red cart past the dumb $1 section and deeper into the store. He didsn't say a word until we got to the food section, but he laughed at my grimace when we passed both the women's and men's underwear.

"Get in the cart," he demanded in the middle of the dairy aisle, completely serious and unsmiling.

I considered throwing a fit. I thought about screaming and whining and slamming my fists on the floor, but I decided not to. I knew that that would just give my sadistic boyfriend some weird pleasure, and I was pretty sure he was bluffing, anyway.

**Karkat: Call his bluff**

I did. Returning his completely serious, unsmiling expression, I climbed into the obnoxiously colored cart, not caring about the people around us. I'm sure his eyes widened in surprise, but his shitty "ironic" glasses blocked them from view.

After a few long seconds of staring at each other, I demanded from my cross-legged position in the cart, "Push me."

He grinned an un-aggravating grin. I liked that grin. That grin didn't make me want to punch all his teeth out.

**Be Dave Strider**

The only thing that could've made that better was some AJ. My terribly, adorably whiny boyfriend had complied with one of my dumbass requests, and even added his own, without a temper tantrum. I hadn't been expecting this, but I was immensely pleased.

My boyfriend was the  _best_.

I grabbed the handle of the cart and set off, slowly at first, like a normal shopper. Then, once we were free of all the other customers and the occasional worker, I started running.

I laughed as Karkat grabbed the sides of the cart, screaming.

**Be Karkat**

"DAVE, STOP THE CART, YOU GODDAMN FUCK-WITTED, CAMEL-TOED, SHIT-BREATHING, DISFIGURED DICKNOSE!"

Unfortunately, my boyfriend just laughed in return as the cart skidded to a stop, a foot away from a cliche pyramid of soup cans. I was about to take a deep breath when he turned the cart and sent us flying down the next isle.

"YOU MOLDY PILLOW HUMPER, STOP THE MOTHERFUCKING CART!"

**Be Dave**

I  _really_  liked my boyfriend when he was angry. The other inhabitants of Target? They didn't feel the same.

"Sir!" a heavy, middle-aged woman called after us.

Huffing in frustration, I slowly slowed us to a stop. I turned around and rhetorically asked, annoyed, "Can't two gay men frolic around in a nasty ass Target without being judged by the help?"

"Sir," she growled back, pointing at the mess behind her. "You've knocked over just about everything you've passed, and your friend's screaming is making the children cry."

" _Boy_ friend," I corrected.

She rolled her eyes, telling me, "Well, it's time for you and your  _boyfriend_  to leave the store."

As I helped my frozen Karkitty out of the cart, I heard her mutter, "Gays will be the downfall of good society, I'm sure of it."

Due to my height, Karkat was about a foot off the ground when he heard that, and he went batshit. Squirming around in my arms like an unhappy cat, he started screaming, "You mentally deficient, homophobic dickface!"

I quickly set him down, and he marched right up to the taller employee. "Listen,  _Kathy_ ," he hissed, reading her name-tag, "I don't  _care_  that we fucked your place up, you have absolutely  _no right_  to say that, you abominable bottom feeder! May your cancer be terminal!"

I grabbed my boyfriend and started to drag him away, trying to push through the crowd that'd formed. Karkat gave one last glare at the woman, pointing, as he growled, "Get donkey punched."

**Be Karkat**

**Karkat: Skip to the part where you're back in the car**

But I knocked over the cabbage stand like a badass on the way out!

**Karkat: Do it**

Fine.

After closing the door behind him, Dave huffed, "Wow."

I was sure I'd made a fool of myself. I squirmed around in my boyfriend of two weeks arms like a fucking toddler, and then yelled at a lady in what could only be classified as an over reaction.

"That was awesome," Dave said instead of telling me off for being a retard.

I blushed, surprised, and looked down to my fumbling hands.

He smirked. "Not a fan of cart rides, though, huh?"

I blushed harder. "Well, I mean, you just surprised-"

He interrupted me by placing his hand lightly on the back of my neck, making me jump and look up at him and Holy Mother of Proximity was he close.

His surprisingly soft lips met my chapped ones, and at first, I was too stunned to react. He backed off, probably due to my lack of response, and I quickly recaptured his lips with mine.

I was Karkat Vantas, and getting kicked out of Target  _totally_  counted as a real date.


	3. Snow

**Be Karkat Vantas**

I was a very pissed off Karkat Vantas that had not seen his boyfriend in almost two weeks, and I was planning on fixing that.

It'd snowed all throughout the night and into the morning, the first snow of December. There were seven or eight inches of the stuff on the ground, which made me want to throw up. I hated the snow. I hated cold, wet things, and didn't understand how anyone could like winter. Much to my chagrin, my boyfriend was one of the dumbasses who liked the season and the snow and skiing and all that "fun" shit.

Today, I was going to put myself through hell just to make him happy.

After swearing about my lack of a car, even a shitty one, I began to trudge across the neighborhood to Strider's house. I'd never really been to the Striders' before, but I knew which one it was since Dave would always have to stop back there for something.

About halfway through my trek, I came across John Egbert shoveling his driveway. "Hi, Karkat!" he greeted excitedly, toothy grin spread across his face as he waved.

I gave some half-assed, grumpy greeting back before he asked where I was going.

"Strider's," I grumbled back.

"Oh, are you two still dating?" he asked as he tried to clean his glasses on his parka.

I nodded a bit, still walking.

"Guess I owe Jade ten bucks."

That made me stop in my tracks. I turned my head all the way to look at Egbert, and growled out, "You and Jade made a bet on how long our relationship would last?"

He nodded, expression telling me he had no idea why that was upsetting.

Luckily for him, I was freezing and didn't have time to put up with his shit. Instead, I settled for mumbling, "Asshole."

John called as I moved onto the next house, "Bye Karkat!"

I shoved my gloved hand out behind me and flipped him off.

About ten more minutes passed before I was facing the Striders' door. After a deep breath (or sixteen), I mustered up the courage to ring the doorbell. And of fucking course his doorbell was rigged to play presumably "ironic" opera music.

The last man I wanted to answer the door answered the door, which only makes sense, because life just hates me that fucking much. Dirk "Bro" Strider stared down at me, strange scalene triangle sunglasses blocking his eyes from view.

"Hi," I finally managed, squeaking a bit.

He stayed still for about another thirty seconds before turning and yelling into the house, "Dave! You forgot to mention your boyfriend's the size of a third grader and just as cute!"

"BRO!" rang through the house. It was Dave, and he sounded fucking panicked. I was fucking panicked too; I didn't know how to properly respond to the third grader comment because I  _really_  didn't want to scream at a man with a sword hanging from his belt.

Bro chuckled, moving out of sight only a moment before Dave appeared. I'd never seen him look so flustered, and to be honest, it was kind of adorable in a strange, Strider way.

He was wearing a different pair of shades today; they were those shitty hipster/nerd kind, and I thought they looked out of place on him. Still, from behind the thick scarf I was wearing, I could feel myself smiling, though I wasn't sure exactly why.

Dave's poker face returned as he noted, "You hate the snow."

"Really?" I responded. "I must've forgotten. Thank you for reminding me, Your Thoughtfulness."

"What are you doing here?"

For a second I panicked, thinking he must not have want to see me, and maybe that was why we hadn't been out in so long. "I can go," I squeaked, turning around.

His hand caught my shoulder and pulled me back as he said, "Don't leave."

For some reason I'll never understand, my stupid heart fluttered.

I hated when it did that. That shit hurts, and it's embarrassing. Still, I muttered back, "Okay."

He asked awkwardly, "Do you want to come inside?"

I shook my head ferociously. I never wanted to see Bro Strider again, for as long as I lived, because Jesus Christ that man is intimidating. I told Dave, a little nervously, "I was thinking we could... go play in the snow...?"

**Be Dave Strider**

I had the best boyfriend ever.

I nodded excitedly, rushing to the spot on the floor where I knew my snow stuff was. Some people thought my messy house was unorganized, but Bro and I knew where everything was. Still, I wanted the place to be a bit cleaner if Karkat came in.

As soon as I stepped out the door in my fluorescent, purely ironic snowsuit from the 90's, Karkat, who'd moved off the porch, hit me in the stomach with a snowball. I eyed him up from under my shades, my expression saying "game on." I quickly reached down and created my own snowball before hurling it at him. For a kid who hated the snow, he was pretty good at this game, and had managed to make another ball while dodging mine.

I dropped to the the ground as Karkat sent a projectile my way, cupping my hands around the snow by my knees.

Karkat and I each sent a snowball flying.

Mine missed.

His didn't.

I had a feeling he meant to hit the shitty hipsters shades I got at Claire's on purpose. The cheap plastic broke in half immediately, falling off my face.

Shit.

**Be Karkat Vantas**

I tilted my head in confusion as Strider's lame glasses fell off to reveal his closed eyes. "What the hell are you doing?" I asked.

Instead of answering, Strider turned around and headed inside. Worried that he'd actually  _liked_  those things, I did the only rational thing I could in this situation: I jumped on his back.

Arms around his shoulders, and legs around his midsection, I growled, "Where the hell are you going?"

"Back off, Vantas," he responded before ripping me off of him and slamming me into the thankfully thick snow at his feet.

He'd gotten all of two more steps before I'd gathered my senses. I quickly shot forward, tackling his knees. Unprepared, he fell sideways into the snow, and I took the opportunity to clamber on top of him, holding down his wrists and straddling his hips.

Shut up, you perverts.

His eyes were still closed, which pissed me off. "Why the hell won't you look at me?" I growled. "I'm sorry about your glasses, but-"

"Shut up, Vantas."

I scowled, "You baby-eating assmunch. You can't possibly be so pissed about a broken pair of dumb glasses."

**Karkat: Open his eyes for him, dickweed**

I resent that.

Either way, I still brought my hands to his eyelids, attempting to gently force one open. With his now free hand, he quickly snatched mine away.

"What is  _wrong_  with you?!" I yelled, beyond frustrated. "Why won't you look at me?"

**Be Dave**

**Dave: Give up because he won't**

Someone's gotta be the bigger man.

I slowly opened my eyes, and -

Shit.

**Be Karkat**

**Karkat: Don't freak out.**

It was only then that I remembered I'd never seen Dave without his glasses.

**Karkat: And now you know why. Do something!**

"Your eyes," I mumbled.

He groaned, closing them again and turning his head.

I wasn't really thinking clearly when I lowered myself onto him and reached to turn his head back. "I like them."

He groaned again. "You  _hate_  red."

My heart was beating fast as I shook my head, not exactly caring that he couldn't see me. "I hate  _obnoxious_ red, like my brother's stuff.  _You're_  still fucking obnoxious, but your eyes aren't."

**Karkat: Be interrupted.**

WHY.

Bro Strider opened the front door and just started chuckling like a creep, hugging a bulbous stuffed animal to his chest. "No glasses, Dave?" he called.

"BRO!" Dave shrieked (he did, don't listen to what he says). I quickly leaped off of him as he got to his feet. "What the hell?!"

"Doesn't look good, man," Bro responded, smirking the same aggravating smirk his brother sometimes wore. "Practically pedophilia."

Dave frantically pointed at me. "He's in my grade!"

Bro looked impressed and turned his gaze down towards me. "Did you get moved up a few grades?"

I groaned and buried my face into my knees.

Dave ran at his brother and pushed him back inside, slamming the door.

"I'm sorry," the younger Strider quietly apologized once he was sure Bro was gone.

I looked up at him, ten feet away guarding the door, red eyes so alien to me, as I said, "You shouldn't wear your glasses so much."

It was strange knowing for sure that he was looking at me, but like normal, he waited for me to continue instead of replying.

"For Kankri's sake, if anything," I continued, blushing a bit. "You might be able to convince me that red isn't so bad."


	4. Dinner

**Be Karkat Vantas**

I was a very pissed off Karkat Vantas that had not seen his boyfriend in almost two weeks, and I was planning on fixing that.

It'd snowed all throughout the night and into the morning, the first snow of December. There were seven or eight inches of the stuff on the ground, which made me want to throw up. I hated the snow. I hated cold, wet things, and didn't understand how anyone could like winter. Much to my chagrin, my boyfriend was one of the dumbasses who liked the season and the snow and skiing and all that "fun" shit.

Today, I was going to put myself through hell just to make him happy.

After swearing about my lack of a car, even a shitty one, I began to trudge across the neighborhood to Strider's house. I'd never really been to the Striders' before, but I knew which one it was since Dave would always have to stop back there for something.

About halfway through my trek, I came across John Egbert shoveling his driveway. "Hi, Karkat!" he greeted excitedly, toothy grin spread across his face as he waved.

I gave some half-assed, grumpy greeting back before he asked where I was going.

"Strider's," I grumbled back.

"Oh, are you two still dating?" he asked as he tried to clean his glasses on his parka.

I nodded a bit, still walking.

"Guess I owe Jade ten bucks."

That made me stop in my tracks. I turned my head all the way to look at Egbert, and growled out, "You and Jade made a bet on how long our relationship would last?"

He nodded, expression telling me he had no idea why that was upsetting.

Luckily for him, I was freezing and didn't have time to put up with his shit. Instead, I settled for mumbling, "Asshole."

John called as I moved onto the next house, "Bye Karkat!"

I shoved my gloved hand out behind me and flipped him off.

About ten more minutes passed before I was facing the Striders' door. After a deep breath (or sixteen), I mustered up the courage to ring the doorbell. And of fucking course his doorbell was rigged to play presumably "ironic" opera music.

The last man I wanted to answer the door answered the door, which only makes sense, because life just hates me that fucking much. Dirk "Bro" Strider stared down at me, strange scalene triangle sunglasses blocking his eyes from view.

"Hi," I finally managed, squeaking a bit.

He stayed still for about another thirty seconds before turning and yelling into the house, "Dave! You forgot to mention your boyfriend's the size of a third grader and just as cute!"

"BRO!" rang through the house. It was Dave, and he sounded fucking panicked. I was fucking panicked too; I didn't know how to properly respond to the third grader comment because I  _really_  didn't want to scream at a man with a sword hanging from his belt.

Bro chuckled, moving out of sight only a moment before Dave appeared. I'd never seen him look so flustered, and to be honest, it was kind of adorable in a strange, Strider way.

He was wearing a different pair of shades today; they were those shitty hipster/nerd kind, and I thought they looked out of place on him. Still, from behind the thick scarf I was wearing, I could feel myself smiling, though I wasn't sure exactly why.

Dave's poker face returned as he noted, "You hate the snow."

"Really?" I responded. "I must've forgotten. Thank you for reminding me, Your Thoughtfulness."

"What are you doing here?"

For a second I panicked, thinking he must not have want to see me, and maybe that was why we hadn't been out in so long. "I can go," I squeaked, turning around.

His hand caught my shoulder and pulled me back as he said, "Don't leave."

For some reason I'll never understand, my stupid heart fluttered.

I hated when it did that. That shit hurts, and it's embarrassing. Still, I muttered back, "Okay."

He asked awkwardly, "Do you want to come inside?"

I shook my head ferociously. I never wanted to see Bro Strider again, for as long as I lived, because Jesus Christ that man is intimidating. I told Dave, a little nervously, "I was thinking we could... go play in the snow...?"

**Be Dave Strider**

I had the best boyfriend ever.

I nodded excitedly, rushing to the spot on the floor where I knew my snow stuff was. Some people thought my messy house was unorganized, but Bro and I knew where everything was. Still, I wanted the place to be a bit cleaner if Karkat came in.

As soon as I stepped out the door in my fluorescent, purely ironic snowsuit from the 90's, Karkat, who'd moved off the porch, hit me in the stomach with a snowball. I eyed him up from under my shades, my expression saying "game on." I quickly reached down and created my own snowball before hurling it at him. For a kid who hated the snow, he was pretty good at this game, and had managed to make another ball while dodging mine.

I dropped to the the ground as Karkat sent a projectile my way, cupping my hands around the snow by my knees.

Karkat and I each sent a snowball flying.

Mine missed.

His didn't.

I had a feeling he meant to hit the shitty hipsters shades I got at Claire's on purpose. The cheap plastic broke in half immediately, falling off my face.

Shit.

**Be Karkat Vantas**

I tilted my head in confusion as Strider's lame glasses fell off to reveal his closed eyes. "What the hell are you doing?" I asked.

Instead of answering, Strider turned around and headed inside. Worried that he'd actually  _liked_  those things, I did the only rational thing I could in this situation: I jumped on his back.

Arms around his shoulders, and legs around his midsection, I growled, "Where the hell are you going?"

"Back off, Vantas," he responded before ripping me off of him and slamming me into the thankfully thick snow at his feet.

He'd gotten all of two more steps before I'd gathered my senses. I quickly shot forward, tackling his knees. Unprepared, he fell sideways into the snow, and I took the opportunity to clamber on top of him, holding down his wrists and straddling his hips.

Shut up, you perverts.

His eyes were still closed, which pissed me off. "Why the hell won't you look at me?" I growled. "I'm sorry about your glasses, but-"

"Shut up, Vantas."

I scowled, "You baby-eating assmunch. You can't possibly be so pissed about a broken pair of dumb glasses."

**Karkat: Open his eyes for him, dickweed**

I resent that.

Either way, I still brought my hands to his eyelids, attempting to gently force one open. With his now free hand, he quickly snatched mine away.

"What is  _wrong_  with you?!" I yelled, beyond frustrated. "Why won't you look at me?"

**Be Dave**

**Dave: Give up because he won't**

Someone's gotta be the bigger man.

I slowly opened my eyes, and -

Shit.

**Be Karkat**

**Karkat: Don't freak out.**

It was only then that I remembered I'd never seen Dave without his glasses.

**Karkat: And now you know why. Do something!**

"Your eyes," I mumbled.

He groaned, closing them again and turning his head.

I wasn't really thinking clearly when I lowered myself onto him and reached to turn his head back. "I like them."

He groaned again. "You  _hate_  red."

My heart was beating fast as I shook my head, not exactly caring that he couldn't see me. "I hate  _obnoxious_ red, like my brother's stuff.  _You're_  still fucking obnoxious, but your eyes aren't."

**Karkat: Be interrupted.**

WHY.

Bro Strider opened the front door and just started chuckling like a creep, hugging a bulbous stuffed animal to his chest. "No glasses, Dave?" he called.

"BRO!" Dave shrieked (he did, don't listen to what he says). I quickly leaped off of him as he got to his feet. "What the hell?!"

"Doesn't look good, man," Bro responded, smirking the same aggravating smirk his brother sometimes wore. "Practically pedophilia."

Dave frantically pointed at me. "He's in my grade!"

Bro looked impressed and turned his gaze down towards me. "Did you get moved up a few grades?"

I groaned and buried my face into my knees.

Dave ran at his brother and pushed him back inside, slamming the door.

"I'm sorry," the younger Strider quietly apologized once he was sure Bro was gone.

I looked up at him, ten feet away guarding the door, red eyes so alien to me, as I said, "You shouldn't wear your glasses so much."

It was strange knowing for sure that he was looking at me, but like normal, he waited for me to continue instead of replying.

"For Kankri's sake, if anything," I continued, blushing a bit. "You might be able to convince me that red isn't so bad."


	5. Graduation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! : )

**Be Karkat Vantas**

Graduation is a really, really painful event created by the gods of misery. All there is to worry about is paying for caps and gowns, getting good grades so you can get into college, applying to said colleges, and leaving everyone you've grown up with behind.

I wasn't too worried about most of these things. I had a solid 3.7 GPA and my family didn't really have any money issues. Also, most of the people I grew up with were total dicks.

Most of them.

Dave was going to a college out in California, and I was headed off to Penn State in Pennsylvania. We wouldn't see each other often, if at all, and due to his ridiculously high social activity level, I was sure he wouldn't have any time for me.

Those are the things I was freaking out about as Kankri drove me to the ceremony. He blathered on and on and on about the importance of good grades in college (while managing to call me a few gay slurs, as he is prone to), but I didn't listen. I was too worried.

**Karkat: Move on to the ceremony**

Metal folding chairs are not comfortable, but I sat on one anyways after entering the gymnasium with the rest of my class in fancy ass lines. Due to our last names, I didn't see Strider until he got up and walked across stage.

A few speeches were given by administrators, talking about how excited they were for the graduating class, but you could hear in their voice that they did not care. They did this every single year. However, our valedictorian, Rose Lalonde, gave a speech that really did sound genuine. This was partly due to the fact that Rose is extremely passive aggressive and can disguise her utter distaste as flattery.

**Karkat: Tell us about the walks**

Strider had his eyes hidden by bright blue sunglasses to match the school's ugly robes. As a popular kid, his waltz was met with lots of cheering from our fellow students, and one very loud, very proud whoop from the bleachers of parents.

When my name was called, I walked in front of my class of 66 people and all their loved ones, shoulders slumped. Dave stood up and applauded as he yelled, "You go, babe!"

I could practically hear my brother shake in his dumb sweater of social justice.

I gave my boyfriend a small smile, but quickly returned to looking at the principal, who frowned. The large, imposing man wasn't a fan of mine, partly due to the fact that I was dating a Strider (they liked to prank the administrators), and partly due to the fact that the Strider I was dating was male.

**Karkat: Skip to the caps**

It's a rather stupid tradition to throw your graduation caps into the air. I stuffed mine inside my robe. I wanted it.

**Karkat: Tell us why**

Shut up, I'm getting there.

When the ceremony let out into the parking lot, friends hugged each other and sobbed, all crying about how much they'd miss each other, but we all knew we'd forget about our fellow classmates by September. Parents stood around, snapping pictures and pretending like they weren't counting down the days till summer was over.

I was searching the crowds for Dave when someone snatched me by the waist. I almost yelled, but I didn't because I knew who had me. Only one person ever grabbed me like that.

I muttered as we started moving through the sea of emotional train wrecks, "Please let me go, Dirk."

He chuckled, chest vibrating behind my back. "C'mon, Shouty, lighten up! It's a celebration!"

I grunted in return, which caused his feet to slow down a bit.

"What's wrong, man?" he asked.

"I would absolutely love to have this conversation when not being held like a toddler," I snapped.

He dropped me and spun me around to face him. "Talk," he instructed.

"Where's Dave?" I asked instead.

Bro had quite the height advantage on me, so it didn't take long for him to find his brother. "I'll get him for you," he offered.

**Karkat: Go on**

Dirk dropped Dave and I in the dumb Strider truck. It was a silent journey, but I eventually found myself awkwardly shifting in the truck's backseat bench, Dave beside me.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking over.

I stared at my Vans, bouncing my right leg up and down for a moment.

"Hey," he called out gently, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I let him, but didn't respond.

"Karkat?"

I awkwardly reached into my graduation robe and pulled out the square cap. I thrusted it at him, not looking up. "I want you to have this," I said. "To remember me."

Dave's response was exactly what one would expect, but I was still totally shocked, for I am a dumbass. He took my face in his hands and smashed his lips against mine, kissing me like he had a specific goal in mind, turning my stomach into an Olympic gymnast. After a solid few seconds, he loosened his grip and mumbled through his chapped lips that were against my own, "I'm not going to forget a thing."

**Karkat: And did he?**

He never did forget. He flew to PA more times than the airlines probably would have liked (he had fun with the flight attendants), and he always brought gifts and stories and lots and lots of kisses. When he wasn't over, he'd leave me walls of text in Pesterchum, or he'd send really random things in the mail, including, at one point, a package of uncooked macaroni.

In the Spring, Dave flew me down to LA, where he took me to a fancy restaurant. Durning the main course, he scribbled something in his napkin and then made a paper football out of it and stuffed something inside. I jumped when it hit me in the nose, because it was a lot harder than I expected a napkin to be. Dave nodded at me to open it up, and I did so carefully, eventually discovering a poorly written, "DING DONG MOTHERFUCKER LETS THROW A GAY WEDDING" and a silver engagement band.

**Karkat: Say "Yes"**

It was more along the lines of "You gangbanging fucker, that hurt, but yes, I'll marry your sorry ass."

Dave gave me a giant grin and offered to pay for dinner, which we both tried to eat the rest of without turning into sobbing, sappy fools.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Also, as a quick little shameless self-promotion, I have a story I'm working on (found here and on FF) called AlTeR that I can guarantee is at least like 43% better than this. So, check that out!  
> : )


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